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Historical Battles/Wars/Massacre
Every warrior in history must have had some fighting experience to classify them as warriors. The warriors that are famous world wide were involved in some of the greatest battles of human history. American/Indian Wars Battle of Little Big Horn The Battle of Little Big horn, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which occurred on June 25–26, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most prominent action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake). The U.S. Seventh Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion, a force of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat. Five of the Seventh Cavalry's companies were annihilated; Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count, including scouts, was 268 dead and 55 injured. Public response to the Great Sioux War varied at the time. The battle, and Custer's actions in particular, have been studied extensively by historians. Greek/Persian Wars Battle of Thermopalye The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ('The Hot Gates'). The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium. A Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the summer of 480 BC. The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered over one million but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are given by scholars ranging between about 100,000 and 150,000),[5][6] arrived at the pass in late August or early September. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. During two full days of battle the small force led by Leonidas blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day of battle a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind the Greek lines. Leonidas, aware that his force was being outflanked, dismissed the bulk of the Greek army and remained to guard the rear with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans and perhaps a few hundred others, most of whom were killed. After this engagement the Greek navy, under the command of the Athenian politician Themistocles, at Artemisium received news of the defeat at Thermopylae. Since the Greek's strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, the withdrawal to Salamis was decided. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet, seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada, attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearful of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. The following year, however, saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion. Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending native soil. The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and aPersian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army decisively defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The first Persian invasion was a response to Greek involvement in the Ionian Revolt, when Athens and Eretria had sent a force to support the cities of Ionia in their attempt to overthrow Persian rule. The Athenians and Eretrians had succeeded in capturing and burning Sardis, but were then forced to retreat with heavy losses. In response to this raid, Darius swore to burn down Athens and Eretria. According to Herodotus, Darius asked for his bow, he placed an arrow upon the string and he discharged it upwards towards heaven, and as he shot into the air he said: "Zeus, grant me to take vengeance upon the Athenians!". Also he charged one of his servants, to say to him, every day before dinner, three times: "Master, remember the Athenians."[2] At the time of the battle, Sparta and Athens were the two largest city states. Once the Ionian revolt was finally crushed by the Persian victory at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, Darius began plans to subjugate Greece. In 490 BC, he sent a naval task force under Datis and Artaphernes across the Aegean, to subjugate the Cyclades, and then to make punitive attacks on Athens and Eretria. Reaching Euboea in mid-summer after a successful campaign in the Aegean, the Persians proceeded to besiege and capture Eretria. The Persian force then sailed for Attica, landing in the bay near the town of Marathon. The Athenians, joined by a small force from Plataea, marched to Marathon, and succeeded in blocking the two exits from the plain of Marathon. The Greeks could not hope to face the superior Persian cavalry; however, when learning that the Persian cavalry was temporarily absent from the camp, Miltiades ordered a general attack against the Persians. He reinforced his flanks, luring the Persians' best fighters into his centre. The inward wheeling flanks enveloped the Persians, routing them. The Persian army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered. The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia. Darius then began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. After Darius died, his son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for a second invasion of Greece, which finally began in 480 BC. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon. Since the following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society, the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in European history. The battle is perhaps now more famous as the inspiration for the marathon race. Although thought to be historically inaccurate, the legend of the Greek messenger Pheidippides running to Athens with news of the victory became the inspiration for this athletic event, introduced at the 1896 Athens Olympics, and originally run between Marathon and Athens. Ninja Assassinations Golden Age of Piracy Crusades Wars of the Mongol Empire Conquest of China The Mongol invasion of China spanned six decades in the 13th century and involved the defeat of the Jin Dynasty, Western Xia, the Dali Kingdom and the Southern Song, which finally fell in 1279. The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan started the conquest with small-scale raids into Western Xia in 1205 and 1207.[1] By 1279, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan had established the Yuan Dynasty in China and crushed the last Song resistance, which marked the onset of all of China under the Mongol Yuan rule. This was the first time in history that the whole of China was conquered and subsequently ruled by a foreign or non-native ruler,[2] compared with the Manchus (who established the Qing Dynasty) who did so a few centuries later. Conquest of Persia The mongole invasion Khwarezmia from 1219 to 1221[1] marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states. The Mongol expansion would ultimately culminate in the conquest of virtually all of Eurasia, save for Western Europe, Fennoscandia, the Byzantine Empire, Arabia, most of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia. Incidentally, it was not originally the intention of the Mongol Empire to invade the Khwarezmid Empire. According to the Persian historian Juzjani, Genghis Khan had originally sent the ruler of the Khwarezmid Empire, Ala ad-Din Muhammad, a message seeking trade and greeted him as his neighbor: "I am master of the lands of the rising sun while you rule those of the setting sun. Let us conclude a firm treaty of friendship and peace."[2] The Mongols' original unification of all "people in felt tents", unifying the nomadic tribes in Mongolia and then the Turcomens and other nomadic peoples, had come with relatively little bloodshed, and almost no material loss. Even his invasions of China, to that point, had involved no more bloodshed than previous nomadic invasions had caused.[3] Shah Muhammad reluctantly agreed to this peace treaty, but it was not to last. The war started less than a year later, when a Mongol caravan and its envoys were massacred in the Khwarezmian city of Otrar. In the ensuing war, lasting less than two years, the Khwarezmid Empire was utterly destroyed. Invasion of India Despite the prolonged war against Indian's warriors like the Rajput, the Mongol Empire eventually gave up their invasions when their empire was at risk of falling apart. Invasion of Japan Mongols attempt to invade Japan against their Samurai warriors. The Samurai focused on killing the Mongols on their boats before they made landfall and used their horseback archery. Invasion of Vietnam Similar to the wars of Indochina in the 20th century, the superpower of the Mongols were defeated by the smaller Vietnamese forces because of superior tactics. Battle of Kalka River The Battle of the Kalka River took place on May 31, 1223, between the Mongol Empire (led by Jebe and Subutai) and Kiev, Galich, and several other Rus' principalities and the Cumans, under the command of Mstislav the Bold and Mstislav III of Kiev. The battle was fought on the banks of the Kalka River (in present-day Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine) and ended in a Mongol victory. Following the Mongol invasion of Central Asia and the subsequent collapse of the Khwarezmian Empire, a Mongol force under the command of generals Jebe and Subutai advanced into Iraq-i Ajam. Jebe requested permission from the Mongolian Emperor, Genghis Khan, to continue his conquests for a few years before returning to the main army via the Caucasus. While waiting for Genghis Khan's reply, the duo set out on a raid in which they attacked Georgia and killed its king. Genghis Khan granted the duo permission to undertake their expedition, and after making their way through the Caucasus, they defeated a coalition of Caucasian tribes before defeating the Cumans. The Cuman Khan fled to the court of his son-in-law, Prince Mstislav the Bold of Galich, whom he convinced to help fight the Mongols. Mstislav the Bold formed an alliance of the Rus' princes including Mstislav III of Kiev. The combined Rus' army, at first, defeated the Mongol rearguard. For several days, the Rus' pursued the Mongols but became spread out over a large distance. The Mongols stopped and assumed battle formation on the banks of theKalka River. Mstislav the Bold, with his Cuman allies, attacked the Mongols without waiting for the rest of the Rus' army, and was defeated. In the ensuing confusion, several other Rus' princes were defeated, and Mstislav of Kiev was forced to retreat to a fortified camp. After holding for three days, he surrendered in return for a promise of safe conduct for himself and his men. Once they surrendered, however, the Mongols slaughtered them and executed Mstislav of Kiev. Mstislav the Bold escaped, and the Mongols went back to Asia, where they joined Genghis Khan. Red Turban Rebellion Ming Warriors rebel against the established Mongol Yuan Dynasty, forming the Ming Dynasty. World War I Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt (1916–1918) was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen. Though the Sherifian revolt has tended to be regarded as a revolt rooted in a secular Arab nationalist sentiment, in June 1916, the Sherif did not present it in those terms; rather, he accused the Young Turks of violating the sacred tenets of Islam and called Arab Muslims to sacred rebellion against the ostensibly "impious" Ottoman government. World War 2 Western Front *Battle of France *Invasion of Normandy *Battle of the Bulge *Battle at Iwo-Jima *Operation Market Garden Battle of Bir Hakeim Eastern Front *The Burma Campaign *Battle of Kohima *Battle of Imphal Pacific War The Troubles Dissident Irish Republican Campaign A continuation of The Troubles, although less intense since the PIRA declared ceasefire. Other IRA cells continue the fight but with less impact and casualties. Afghan War Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan Called "Soviet's Vietnam War" as the Soviet Army lost to a smaller army in a long and expensive war. War On Terror/US War in Afghanistan The Afghan War is the longest war declared by the USA. In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US army invade Afghanistan, owned at the time by Al Qaeda's ally the Taliban government. However many note that the Taliban themselves were not responsible and that Bin Laden was found in Pakistan and born a Saudi Arabian. Although a new government has replaced the Taliban government, the Taliban still exist as a terrorist group. This war is highly controversial due to the length of the war, the war crimes commited by the US army, and the unpopularity of the new Afghan government that many believe is more of a US puppet government than an independent government. The USA plan to leave the majority of their forces by 2014 but will continue to keep a few thousand troops behind and have an official millitary alliance with Afghanistan. The Afghan army currently is having trouble financing their large army and will be forced to downsize as the US army withdraws, while the Taliban are growing in numbers and support. Like the Soviet Invasion, the Taliban used superior tactics and gurellia fighting to survive the larger and more powerful US army for over a decade. University of Texas Massacre Charles Joseph Whitman (June 24, 1941 – August 1, 1966) was an American engineering student and retired U.S. Marine, who killed sixteen people and wounded thirty-two others in a mass shooting rampage in and around the Tower of theUniversity of Texas in Austin on the afternoon of August 1, 1966. Three people were shot and killed inside the university's tower and eleven others were murdered after Whitman fired at random from the 28th-floor observation deck of the Main Building. Whitman was shot and killed by Austin police officer Houston McCoy.[1][2][3][4][5] Prior to the shootings at the University of Texas, Whitman had murdered both his wife and mother in Austin. Munich Massacre The Munich massacre was an attack during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany on 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team, who were taken hostage and eventually killed, along with a German police officer, by thePalestinian group Black September.[3][4][5][6] Shortly after the crisis began, they demanded the release of 234 prisoners held in Israeli jails,[7] and the release of the founders (Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof) of the German Red Army Faction, who were held in German prisons.[8] Black September called the operation "Iqrit and Biram",[9] after two Palestinian Christian villages whose inhabitants were expelled by the Haganah in 1948. The attackers were apparently given logistical assistance by German neo-Nazis.[10] Five of the eight members of Black September were killed by police officers during a failed rescue attempt. The three surviving attackers were captured, but later released by West Germany following the hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner. Israel responded to the killers' release with Operation Spring of Youth and Operation Wrath of God, during which Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and special forces systematically tracked down and killed Palestinians suspected of involvement in the massacre. Lufthansa Flight 181 Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Boeing 737-230 Adv aircraft named Landshut, hijacked on 13 October 1977 by 4 militants who called themselves Commando Martyr Halime. On October 18, the aircraft was stormed by the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9 in Mogadishu, Somalia and all 86 passengers rescued. The rescue operation was codenamed Feuerzauber (German term for "Fire Magic"). The objective of the Lufthansa hijacking was to secure the release of imprisoned Red Army Faction leaders and is considered to be part of the German Autumn. Wars of Alexander the Great The wars of Alexander the Great were fought by King Alexander III of Macedon ("The Great"), first against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, under its "King of Kings" Darius III, and then against local chieftains and warlords as far east as Punjab, India. Alexander the Great was one of the most successful military commanders of all time. He was undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks.[1] Alexander assumed the kingship of Macedon following the death of his father Philip II, who had unified[2] most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian hegemony in a federation called the League of Corinth.[3] After reconfirming Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion of southern Greek city-states and staging a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbors, Alexander set out east against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, under its "King of Kings" (the title all Achaemenid kings went by), Darius III, which he defeated and overthrew. His conquests included Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia, and he extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as Punjab, India. Alexander had already made more plans prior to his death for military and mercantile expansions into the Arabian peninsula, after which he was to turn his armies to the west (Carthage, Rome and the Iberian Peninsula). However, Alexander's diadochi quietly abandoned these grandiose plans after his death. Instead, within a few years of Alexander's death, the diadochi began fighting with each other, dividing up the Empire between themselves, and triggering 40 years of warfare. Conquest of Persia American Gang Wars Saint Valentine's Day massacre The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of seven mob associates as part of a Prohibition-era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran.[2] Former members of the Egan's Rats gang were also suspected of having played a significant role in the incident, assisting Capone. War On Drugs An American 'war' on drug cartels of Latin America. This crackdown lead to the downfall of the Medelin Cartel and killed Pablo Escobar. Bank Robberies and battles involving Bank Robbers Northfield, Minnesota Robbery A disasterous raid by the Jesse James Gang. The citizens of the town armed themselves against the Jesse James Gang, overwelming them and killing or capturing some of their members. Assassination of Jessie James Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire and Latin America The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most significant events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The campaign began in February 1519, and was declared victorious on August 13, 1521, when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Moctezuma was convinced that Cortés was a god, as the Spanish brought horses and guns, which the Aztecs had never seen before. During the campaign, Cortés was offered support from a number of tributaries and rivals of the Aztecs, including the Totonacs, and the Tlaxcaltecas. In their advance, the allies were tricked and ambushed several times by the peoples they encountered. After eight months of battles and negotiations, which overcame the diplomatic resistance of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II to his visit, Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519, where he took up residence welcomed by Moctezuma. When news reached Cortés of the death of several of his men during the Aztec attack on the Totonacs in Veracruz, he took Moctezuma captive in his own palace and ruled through him for months. After the massacre at the Main Temple of Tenochtitlan and a rebellion by the population of the city, Cortés and his men had to fight their way out of the capital city during the Noche Triste in June, 1520. However, the Spanish and Tlaxcalans would return with reinforcements and a siege that led to the fall of Tenochtitlan a year later. The collapse of the Aztec Empire was a major milestone in the formation of New Spain, which would not be formalized by the Spanish Crown until A.D. 1535. The Spanish claimed the Aztec empire as 'New Spain'. Siege of Tenochtitlan The siege of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, came about in 1521 through the manipulation of local factions and divisions by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. Though numerous battles were fought between the Aztecs and the Spanish army, which was composed of predominantly indigenous peoples, it was the siege of Tenochtitlan that was the final, decisive battle that led to the downfall of the Aztec civilization and marked the end of the first phase of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The conquest of Mexico was part of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. It began in 1991, when a coalition of clan-based armed opposition groups ousted the nation's long-standing military government. Various factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed, which precipitated an aborted UN peacekeeping attempt in the mid-1990s. A period of decentralization ensued, characterized by a return to customary and religious law in many areas as well as the establishment of autonomous regional governments in the northern part of the country. The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations, culminating in the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. In 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, notably Al-Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Somali government and its AMISOM allies for control of the region. In 2011, a coordinated military operation between the Somali military and multinational forces began, which is believed to represent one of the final stages in the war's Islamist insurgency.[6] Operation Ocean Shield A NATO lead international crackdown on Somali Piratcy. Indochina Wars First Indochina War The First Indochina war (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam) began in French Indochina on 19 December 1946 and lasted until 1 August 1954. Fighting between French forces and their Viet Minh opponents in the South dates from September 1945. The conflict pitted a range of forces, including the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. Following the reoccupation of Indochina by the French following the end of World War II, the area having fallen to the Japanese, the Viet Minh launched a rebellion against the French authority governing the colonies of French Indochina. The first few years of the war involved a low-level rural insurgency against French authority. However, after the Chinese communists reached the Northern border of Vietnam in 1949, the conflict turned into a conventional war between two armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the United States and the Soviet Union.[17] French Union forces included colonial troops from the whole former empire (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Laotian, Cambodian, and Vietnamese ethnic minorities), French professional troops and units of the French Foreign Legion. The use of metropolitan recruits was forbidden by the government to prevent the war from becoming even more unpopular at home. It was called the "dirty war" (la sale guerre) by supporters of the Left intellectuals in France (including Jean-Paul Sartre) during the Henri Martin affair in 1950.[18][19] While the strategy of pushing the Viet Minh into attacking a well-defended base in a remote part of the country at the end of their logistical trail was validated at the Battle of Nà Sản, the lack of construction materials (especially concrete), tanks (because of lack of road access and difficulty in the jungle terrain), and air cover precluded an effective defense, culminating in a decisive French defeat at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After the war, the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954, made a provisional division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with control of the north given to the Viet Minh as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and the south becoming the State of Vietnam under Emperor Bảo Đại.[20] A year later, Bảo Đại would be deposed by his prime minister, Ngô Đình Diệm, creating the Republic of Vietnam. Soon an insurgency backed by the North developed against Diem's government. The war gradually escalated into the Vietnam War between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam backed by heavy US intervention. Vietnam War Warriors- South Vietnam, US Army, South Korea vs Viet Cong, North Vietnam, Pathet Lao, Khmer Rouge *Tet Offensive Khmer Rouge Cambodian Genocide Warriors- Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Cambodian–Vietnamese War Warriors- Khmer Rouge vs Vietnam People's Army *Ba Chuc Massacre- The Khmer Rouge invaded Ba Chuc, Vietnam and massacred over 3000 Vietnamese. Many believe this would lead to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia about 7 months later. *Vietnam invasion of Cambodia- Vietnam sucessfully captures the capital of Cambodia in only 2 weeks. Pol Pot is removed from power but continues to fight against the Vietnamese as a terrorist group. Roman Wars Hunnic Conquests Persian Conquests Fall of Babylon Wu/Chu War The war that Sun Tzu lead against the superpower of Chu that threatened to invade his country. Chu outnumbered Wu forces at most 10 to 1 but Sun Tzu's strategies allowed his smaller army to invade Chu and destroy their army. Battle of Boju Second Punic Wars The Second Punic War, also referred to as The Hannibalic War, (by the Romans) The War Against Hannibal, or "The Carthaginian War", lasted from 218 to 201 BC[2] and involved combatants in the western and easternMediterranean. This was the second major war between Carthage and the Roman Republic, with the crucial participation of Numidian-Berber armies and tribes on both sides. The two states had three major conflicts against each other over the course of their existence. They are called the "Punic Wars" because Rome's name for Carthaginians was Punici, a reference to their Phoenician ancestry.[3] The war was to a considerable extent initiated by Rome but is marked by Hannibal's surprising overland journey and his costly crossing of the Alps, followed by his reinforcement by Gaulish allies and crushing victories over Roman armies in the battle of the Trebia and the giant ambush at Trasimene. The following year (216) Hannibal's army defeated the Romans again, this time in southern Italy at Cannae. In consequence of these defeats, many Roman allies went over to Carthage, prolonging the war in Italy for over a decade. Against Hannibal's skill on the battlefield, the Romans deployed the Fabian strategy. Roman forces were more capable in siegecraft than the Carthaginians and recaptured all the major cities that had joined the enemy, as well as defeating a Carthaginian attempt to reinforce Hannibal at the battle of the Metaurus. In the meantime, in Iberia, which served as the main source of manpower for the Carthaginian army, a second Roman expedition under Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major took New Carthage by assault and ended Carthaginian rule over Iberia in the battle of Ilipa. The final showdown was the Battle of Zama in Africa between Scipio Africanus and Hannibal, resulting in the latter's defeat and the imposition of harsh peace conditions on Carthage, which ceased to be a major power and became a Roman client-state. A sideshow of this war was the indecisive First Macedonian War in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Ionian Sea. All battles mentioned in the introduction are ranked among the most costly traditional battles of human history; in addition, there were a few successful ambushes of armies that also ended in their annihilation. Battle of Cannae The Battle''' 'of Cannae, a major battle of the Second Punic War, took place on 2 August 216 BC in Apulia in southeast Italy. The army of Carthage under Hannibal decisively defeated a larger army of the Roman Republic under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. It is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and has been regarded as the worst defeat in Roman history. Having recovered from their losses at Trebia (218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), the Romans decided to engage Hannibal at Cannae, with roughly 86,000 Roman and allied troops. The Romans massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual while Hannibal utilized the double-envelopment tactic. This was so successful that the Roman army was effectively destroyed as a fighting force. Following the defeat, Capua and several other Italian city-states defected from the Roman Republic to Carthage. Battle of Zama Hannibal's war elephants were easily countered by General Scipio of Rome, who created wide gaps in his lines that the feral Elephants ran through with minimal damage. Hannibal commited suicide shortly after this loss, ending the Carthaginian Empire. This was Hannibal's only loss in a battle, and was only possible by Scipio's experience in fighting Hannibal in the past. American Revolution The American Revolution was a political upheaval, 1765–1783, as the Thirteen American Colonies broke from the British Empire and formed the independent nation, the United States of America. Starting in 1765 the Americans rejected the authority of Parliament to tax them without elected representation; protests escalated as in the Boston Tea Party of 1773, and the British imposed punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774. In 1774 the Patriots suppressed the Loyalists and expelled all royal officials. Each colony now had a new government that took control. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-establish royal control. Through the Second Continental Congress, the Patriots fought the British in the American Revolutionary War 1775–83. The British sent invasion armies and used their powerful navy to blockade the coast. George Washington became the American commander, working with Congress and the states to raise armies and neutralize the influence of Loyalists. While precise proportions are not known, about 40% of the colonists were Patriots, 20% were Loyalists and the rest were neutral or kept quiet. Claiming British rule was tyrannical and violated the rights of Englishmen, the Patriots used the political philosophy of republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, and proclaim that all men are created equal. Congress declared independence in July 1776, when Thomas Jefferson wrote and the Congress unanimously approved the United States Declaration of Independence. The colonies now became states, and Congress rejected British proposals for compromise that would keep them under the king. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and held New York City for the duration of the war, nearly capturing General Washington and his army. The British blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but 90% of the people were in rural areas. In early 1778, after an invading army from Canada was captured by the Americans, the French entered the war as allies of the United States. The naval and military power of the two sides was about equal, and France had allies in the Netherlands and Spain, while Britain had no major allies in this large-scale war. The war turned to the South, where the British captured an American army at South Carolina, but failed to enlist enough volunteers from Loyalist civilian to take effective control. A combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. A peace treaty in 1783 confirmed the new nation's complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of nearly all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada and Spain taking Florida. The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in American society, government and ways of thinking. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a democratically-elected representative government responsible to the will of the people. The period after the peace treaty came in 1783 involved debates between nationally-minded men like Washington who wanted a strong national government, and local leaders who wanted strong states but a weak national government. The former group won out the ratification of a new United States Constitution in 1788. It replaced the weaker ''Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The new Constitution established a relatively strong federal national government that included a strong elected president, national courts, a bicameral Congress that represented both states in the Senate and population in the House of representatives. Congress had powers of taxation that were lacking under the old Articles. The United States Bill of Rights of 1791 comprised the first ten amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing many "natural rights" that were influential in justifying the revolution, and attempted to balance a strong national government with strong state governments and broad personal liberties. The American shift to liberal republicanism, and the gradually increasing democracy, caused an upheaval of traditional social hierarchy and gave birth to the ethic that has formed a core of political values in the United States Battle of Yorktown The Slaughter of the Hessians Battle of Baton Rouge Battle of Bunker Hill Napoleonic Wars Battle of Austerlitz The Russian campaign Norman conquest of England Battle of Fulford Battle of Stamford Bridge Battle of Hastings Hundred Years' War Siege of Orleans Korean War Iraqi Wars Iran-Iraq War *Al-Anfal Campaign Persian Gulf War US Invasion of Iraq A recently ended invasion that dethroned and executed dictator Saddam Hussein. Despite this, the US invasion was highly controversial since it was motivated by the removal of WoMDs that never existed, affected millions of Iraqi civillians in a negative way and lasted almost 9 years. There is much debate over if the fall of Saddam was a good thing as Iraq still faces terrorism that grew after the fall of Saddam's totaltarism regime. Spanish–American War Mexican Revolution Possible/Fictional Wars World War 3/The Second Korean War According to the Rangers/NKSOF episode, North Korea could spark a World War 3 if they invade South Korea. American troops are currently stationed in South Korea to assist their ally if war is declared. According to the epsode, these are South Korea's possible allies- *United States of America *Japan *New Zealand *Australia *France *Great Britian And North Korea's possible allies- *People's Republic of China *Russia *Iran Technically the original Korean War was never declared over and both countries have entered multiple skirmishes throughout the years of cease fire. Category:Deadliest Warrior wiki Category:Lists